Chapter 2 – Advent’s Way to the House of Bread: Marcel’s Shock

Marcel’s Shock on Advent’s Way to the House of Bread

Marcel swallowed hard.

“Gabi… Gabi, wake up…” he whispered, gently shaking his sister’s shoulder. Gabi sighed and turned her head the other way, trying to keep sleeping. Then he nudged her a little harder with his foot. The irritated six-year-old opened her eyes. At first, she smiled, thinking she was still wrapped in the warm blanket in the car. But when she saw the strange sight in front of the camel and the faces of unfamiliar people, she froze.

“Marcel… where…?”

“I don’t know,” he replied quietly. “But we’re really far from home.”

Gabi grabbed his arm tightly, tears welling up in her eyes, but she didn’t dare to cry out loud. She wanted her mom, her home… the bathroom!

People started to sit or stretch their legs – those who had been walking, handing water to each other.

The man leading the camel looked at Marcel and pointed to the ground. “Do you want to get down?” he murmured to the children in some foreign language, though he wasn’t sure they understood him.

Marcel shook his head. Gabi did too.“Mom said not to talk to strangers,” she whispered through clenched teeth. “And not to go anywhere with them… did they kidnap us?

“Don’t talk nonsense. No! Definitely not! Everything will be explained soon.”

The children observed their surroundings from above. Women unpacked small leather water bags and sacks of fruit. Men checked the straps and adjusted the loads on the animals’ backs. The camels exhaled calmly, chewing on dry stalks.

The man spoke to the children once more, this time a little more gently. “This is your last chance before we move,” he said, pointing to the nearby dense laurel bushes, from which someone kept emerging every now and then.

This time, Gabi and Marcel nodded.

“Okay… just quickly,” he murmured, smiling slightly under his mustache. He helped the children out of the basket and, after a moment, back in again.

The children stepped onto the ground, a little dazed. They looked around at everything and, sizing up the terrain, glanced at each other uncertainly. Gabi stretched her hand forward, pointing to a clump densely covered with leaves. “I go first, you follow me, okay?”

Marcel, trying to look brave, wanted to go ahead of her and tripped over his own shoe—he hadn’t tied his shoelaces in the car, and it showed. He fell flat, landing headfirst in the soft sand. Gabi burst out laughing, and Marcel, red with embarrassment, tried to pretend it was part of his “camel acrobatics.” The camel, as if on purpose, let out a quiet snort, and the children agreed that the animal seemed to be laughing too.

And so continues Advent’s Way to the House of Bread, where each step brings new questions, wonder, and unexpected encounters.

Chapter 3 – Advent’s Way to the House of Bread: On the Road – This Is Not a Dream!